Marc Aplin's Blog, page 149
February 16, 2016
The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal
A few years ago I read and enjoyed Gideon’s Angel by Clifford Beal. It was a novel set in 17th Century England and was enhanced with light fantasy elements, most prominently magical artefacts and religious beings. It was a very clever novel, well-paced, full of masterful descriptions of the times and had some great characters too. That […]
February 14, 2016
Plot Holes and How to Fix Them
Whatever kind of fantasy you’re writing, sooner or later you’re going to come up against the dreaded issue that can bring your whole book to a screeching halt. That is – the plot hole. So what can you do about it? Plot holes are tricky beasts and can come in many different forms. Mostly, when […]
A Renewed Focus
Excuse the personal post here, if you don’t know me very well you probably want to skip it! Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quieter than usual these last few weeks (less tweeting, less Facebook, less Forum posting, etc). I’d been preparing for a boxing match that took place last night […]
February 13, 2016
Sara Raasch Interview
Sara Raasch is the author of the New York Times Bestselling Snow Like Ashes trilogy. Whilst eagerly awaiting the third and final instalment of the trilogy, why not check out our interview with Sara—and if you’re yet to discover the epic fantasy adventures of Meira and Mather, be sure to check out the first two […]
February 12, 2016
Monthly Short Story Winner: The Seven Tenets of Roguishness
Each month in our forum we run a short story contest. The winning stories are then posted here on our main site. If you are interested in entering our contest this month, you can do so here. Rogues. Most of us have a soft spot for them. But why? Because they steal from the rich […]
February 11, 2016
Richard A. Knaak Interview
Who doesn’t know Richard A. Knaak? You know what, don’t answer. You all should. This is the author who has written more books than you realise, in more worlds that should really be possible, and created the truly epic Dragonrealm – which I’ve written about before. Now, he branched out once more and written an […]
February 10, 2016
Getting Started In Scrivener
You’ve probably heard your fellow writers rave about the writing software, Scrivener. You may have even downloaded it and used a free trial. But if you are coming fresh to it from a piece of software like Microsoft Word it can sometimes feel a little confusing as to what’s so special about it. When you […]
February 9, 2016
Evelyn Skye Interview
Evelyn Skye’s hotly-anticipated debut, The Crown’s Game, is due out in the spring. Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs […]
The Last Exodus by Paul Tassi
I don’t read much Science-Fiction, but: “What would happen if you threw Independence Day, The Walking Dead, and Guardians of the Galaxy into a blender? I can’t say for sure, but it’d probably look something like The Last Exodus.“ How could I not check it out, right? Things kick of with a grim view of […]
February 7, 2016
Sun Wukong, AKA The Monkey King
It’s Chinese New Year, and in honour of the Year of the Monkey, I’ve gathered some my favourite adaptations of the Monkey King stories. The Monkey King is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature, from one of its classic novels, Journey to the West. Published in the 16th century during the Ming […]
